Ministry of Railways has revised and amended Refund Rules in a very comprehensive manner and notified them which shall come into force with effect from 1.7.2013. The amendments made in the Refund Rules are aimed at simplification, efficiency in processing and reduction of bogus refund claims.

Railway Passengers (Cancellation of ticket and Refund of fare) Rules, 1998 have not been substantially revised in the last 15 years during which period a large number of changes have taken place in the ticketing system of Indian Railways. Firstly,Computerised Passenger Reservation System (PRS) as well as Computerised Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) have proliferated. Reservation through internet has also been introduced through which 45% of the total reserved tickets are issued. Integrated Train Enquiry System — 139 is functional through which ticket status can be obtained through SMS. The above developments warranted that the refund rules be revised comprehensively.

The major changes in the existing rules and the amendments in refund rules are as under:-

Unused (unreserved) tickets on which no reservation has been made

Existing rule

Amended rule

If a ticket on which no reservation of a seat or berth has been made is presented to the station master for cancellation refund of fare shall be made on every such ticket after deducting the clerkage.(i) within three hours after the actual departure ofthe train for which the ticket is issued or

(ii) for any ticket valid for the whole day, within three hours after the actual departure of the last train of the day for the destination station

If a ticket on which no reservation of a seat or berth has been made is presented for cancellation, refund of fare shall be made on every such ticket after deducting the clerkage.(i)The ticket shall be presented for cancellation within three hours of issue ofticket.

(ii) In case of tickets issued in advance the ticket is presented up to 2400 hours of the day preceding the day of journey.

Unused tickets on which reservation has been made:

(i) if the ticket is presented for cancellation more than forty eight hours instead of the existing 24 hours in advance of the scheduled departure of the train, a minimum per passenger cancellation charge shall be deducted at the of rupees one hundred and twenty for air-conditioned first class/executive class, rupees one hundred for air-conditioned-II tier/first class, rupees ninety for air-conditioned III-tier/ 3 economy/air-conditioned chair car, rupees sixty for sleeper class and rupees thirty for second class.

(ii) if the ticket is presented for cancellation between forty eight hours and up to six hours instead of existing 24 hours and up to 4 hours before the scheduled departure ofthe train, cancellation charge shall be twenty five per cent of the fare subject to a minimum of the cancellation charge.

(iii) if the ticket is presented for cancellation within six hours instead of existing 4 hours before the scheduled departure of the train and up to two hours irrespective of distance instead of existing 3/6/12 hours for distance 200 kms/200-500 kms/500 Kms and above after the actual departure of the train, the cancellation charge shall be fifty per cent of the fare subject to a minimum of the cancellation charge.

(iv) No refund shall be granted on the reserved ticket if it is surrendered for cancellation after two hours of the actual departure of the train.

(v) In case, on a party ticket or a family ticket issued for travel of more than one person, some persons have confirmed reservation and others are on waiting list, full refund of fare, less clerkage, shall be admissible for confirmed passengers also provided that the entire ticket is surrendered for cancellation within six hours instead of existing 4 hours before the scheduled departure of the train and up to two hours instead of existing 3 hours after actual departure of the train”.

Unused waitlisted or RAC tickets:–

Existing rule

Revised rule

If the ticket is presented for cancellation up to 3/6/12 hours for distance 200 kms/200-500 kms/500 Kms and above after the actual departure of the train, except deduction of clerkage;Provided that for night trains leaving between 21.00 hours and 06.00 hours (actual departure), refund shall be admissible at the station within the time limits specified above or within first four hours after the opening of reservation office, whichever is later.

If a Wait listed/RAC ticket is presented for cancellation, refund of fare shall be admissible after deducting the clerkage.(i) The ticket is presented for cancellation up to three hours after the actual departure of the trainirrespective of the distance.

(ii) The passenger may get the tickets cancelled from any PRS counters or the designated current counters.

(iii) No refund of fare shall be granted on RAC ticket/Wait listed ticket after three hours of the actual departure of the train.

(iv) In case no current counters are available at journey originating station for night trains leaving between 21.00 hours and 06.00 hours(actual departure , refund shall be admissible at the station within first two hours after the opening of reservation office.

(v) In remote and hill areas as identified by the zonal Railways with the prior approval of the General Managers and print in their Time Tables for train leaving between 1900 hours and 0600 hours (actual departure) refund shall be admissible at the station within first two hours after the opening of reservation/booking office, in case there is no reservation counters/booking office/ current counters. Available in that area.

Cancellation of e- tickets.-

The e- ticket may be booked and cancelled through internet and the refund of fare shall be credited to the customer’s account after deducting the charges applicable.

In case of a confirmed e-ticket, refund of fare shall be granted in accordance with rule for unused tickets on which reservation has been made. In case of RAC e-ticket, refund of fare shall be granted in accordance with rule for unused wait listed and RAC tickets.

In case of the wait listed e-ticket on which status of all the passengers is on waiting list even after preparation of reservation charts, names of all such passengers booked on that Passenger Name Record (PNR) shall be dropped from the reservation chart and refund of fare shall be credited to the customer’s account after deducting the clerkage.

In case on a party e-ticket or a family e-ticket issued for travel of more than one person, some persons have confirmed reservation and others are on the list of RAC and waiting list, then in case of passengers on RAC or wait listed not travelling, a certificate has to be obtained from the ticket checking staff to that effect and refund of fare shall be processed online through TDR, indicating the details of the certificate issued by ticket checking staff.

The online TDR shall be filed up to seventy two hours of actual arrival of the train at passenger’s destination and the original certificate issued by the ticket checking staff is to be sent through post to Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). The fare shall be refunded by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to the customer’s account after due verification.

In case of e-tickets (confirmed or RAC), if the reservation charts have been prepared, online TDR is required to be filed for obtaining refund. No refund of fare shall be admissible on e- ticket having confirmed reservation in case the request for refund is filed online after two hours of the actual departure of the train.

No refund of fare shall be admissible on RAC e-tickets in case the request for refund is filed online after three hours of the actual departure of the train.

Refund on Tatkal tickets:

No refund of fare shall be admissible on confirmed Tatkal ticket.

In case of Tatkal ticket on wait list, refund of fare shall be granted in accordance with rule for unused wait listed or RAC tickets.

In case on a party Tatkal ticket or a family Tatkal ticket issued for travel for more than one person, some persons have confirmed reservation and others are on waiting list, full refund of fare, less clerkage, shall be admissible for confirmed passengers also provided that the entire Tatkal ticket is surrendered for cancellation within six hours before the scheduled departure of the train or up to two hours of the actual departure of the train.

Postponement or preponement of journey on a reserved, RAC or wait listed ticket.

The postponement or preponement of journey on confirmed or RAC or wait listed ticket shall be allowed in the same class and for the same destination instead of any longer distance or any higher class by the same train or by any other train for any subsequent days, subject to condition that the ticket is surrendered during the working hours of reservation office and at least forty eight hours instead of existing 24 hours before the scheduled departure of the train in which originally booked.

Non-commencement or missing of journey due to late running of trains. –

No cancellation charge or clerkage shall be levied and full fare shall be refunded to all passengers holding reserved, RAC and wait listed tickets, if the journey is not undertaken due to late running of the train by more than three hours of the scheduled departure of the train from the station commencing the journey subject to condition that the ticket is surrendered up to the actual departure of the train instead of existing 3/6/12 hours for distance 200 kms/200-500 kms/500 Kms and above after the actual departure of the train

in case of e-tickets, the TDR is filed online before the actual departure of the train for availing full refund.

In case the ticket is cancelled or surrendered or if the request for refund of fare is filed online after the actual departure of the train, no refund of fare shall be admissible.

Lost, misplaced, torn or mutilated tickets: –

If the reservation status of a lost, misplaced, torn or mutilated ticket, at the time of receipt of the application for issuance of a duplicate ticket for the purpose of undertaking journey, is confirmed or RAC and that the duplicate ticket is sought before preparation of reservation chart of the concerned train, the station master shall issue a duplicate ticket in lieu of the original ticket on payment of rupees fifty per passenger in case of second and sleeper class and rupees one hundred per passenger for other classes instead of existing clerkage charge.

Application for refund of Passenger Reservation System (PRS) tickets in other circumstances:-

For refund of fare under circumstances other than those specified in these rules or under circumstances like ‘bandh’ or agitations or floods, etc., the passengers could not reach the reservation counter or station or current counters for cancellation of tickets, in those cases, a TDR shall be issued to the passenger and the passenger may apply for refund of fare within ten days instead existing 90 days from the day of commencement of journey to the Chief Commercial Manager (Refunds) of the railway administration under whose jurisdiction the TDR issuing station comes, enclosing the original TDR. The TDR shall be issued only up to three days instead of existing 30 days after the scheduled departure of the train.